Quid Pro Quo
by ThatFlyingEagle
Summary: College is a time that represents so much change in every life that it touches. This is a fic that will do its best to observe life in college from the viewpoint of Hiccup, a talented athlete, good student and college freshman. We will follow his life as he tries to balance school, sports, family, romance and a roommate who has a strange love of seafood! More info within!
1. Chapter 1

**INFORMATION: Hiccup and Astrid main pairing, but many pairings across many movies and fandoms. This won't contain lemons or anything like that, but it will contain some adultish themes and stuff life that. Modern AU.**

So, I wrote Too Late Now as a hard, realistic look at relationships and the terrible turns they can take. I got a lot of flak for it, but that's alright. Sometimes, we need to be forced to face the darker side of things. Now, this is your more traditional, feel good fic about relationships. Riddled with rocky holes, but if you stick with it, things will be alright.

Now, I will be embarking on a bit of a different style here. I have never really been one to do the drabbles thing, short chapters that tell that story. I thought, how can they ever tell a story effectively?

Well, I have been reading a drabble style story, and it is simply fantastic. I wrote tons when I was in college, but now being out of college, I simply cannot write on that scale. So I think I will be switching to one shots and drabble style fics.

Let me know what you think!

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College was always supposed to be this wonderful, crazy time in a person's life where they spent time making something of themselves. People are supposed to find the niche they belong in here. Or at least, that is what everyone said about college. Hiccup didn't think so, mainly because he was so sure that he knew what he wanted. He knew where his life was headed, and he wasn't remotely confused about his goals. In a way, it made college more fun, but also more of an unknown minefield.

Even being an athlete proved to be of little help in terms of direction. He was a really strong javelin thrower in high school. Strong, wiry, with long arms and long legs. He'd gotten a good scholarship to come out South to throw at Southland University. He majored in IT, which was a forgone conclusion. His father, and his father's father, and his fathers fathers father all had worked in security. Recently in technology security. Hiccup was a marvelously talented programmer and would one day take over the company, Dragonscale Security.

Before all that though, he had to get a degree. And to do that, he needed to pass Gen Eds, and to do _that_ , he needed to pass a foreign language. Fuck. He was good at writing code, but when it came to learning the different forms of verbs, he was hopeless. Which left him standing where he was right now, outside the ASC inside the foreign language building, with his new friend and roommate Freddy.

"I don't know, Fred," He remarked sourly, staring at the door. "Can I fit this in with practice and weights and all that?"

Standing much taller than him, and much thicker, Freddy was another thrower. A miracle of the Res Life department matching two athletes of the same sport together. As Hiccup understood it, it was done on purpose to help the both of them get by.

"You have to try, dude. If you fail French, you'll be creeping that line of academic ineligibility. You don't want to start off that way, that's for sure." Hiccup listened to his friend with a scowl. He didn't really want to be spending any of his free time getting extra help for French, but Fred was right. The risks were pretty high.

He turned away from the door and started walking. "I'll sign up next week. We got to get some food before practice." The two of them went to the large dining hall, grabbing food from the cafeteria and finding a seat quickly. They would have to eat quickly and get out to the parking lot so they could drive to the athletic complex. The Arena was only a three minute drive from campus, but it would take them ten minutes to walk to the car. As they sat there and ate, shoveling food into their mouths like they were starving, Hiccup overheard something at a table next to theirs.

When he glanced over, Fred coughed. "What you looking at?" He blurted, spitting food over the table.

Hiccup jerked his head. "Girls at that table are speaking French," He mumbled over his food.

"Maybe you should go introduce yourself." Fred told him. Hiccup thought about it as he spooned some mashed potato into his mouth. Maybe it would be a bit more flexible and doable to have a tutor outside of the confines of a building. At least it would help him meet his tough athletic schedule.

He got up and walked over to the table, noting the three girls that sat there. One was a brown haired beauty, with blush on her cheeks and wearing a casual dress. The other two, sitting beside each other, looked like sisters. Both had long blonde hair, pulled into braids that hung over their shoulders, pretty blue eyes and thin lips.

"Uh...good morning, ladies," He said politely. "I just overheard you guys talking and...was it in French?" He nervously rubbed the back of his head, and the girls giggled at him. Such a friggen cliche moment there.

" _Oui_." The one with black hair answered him with a sweet smile. " _Parlez-vous francais_?"

He knew vaguely what she said, but only chuckled. "Well...I kinda know what you said, but not really, which is what brought me here. I have to pass French and I really need some help." He finished, looking up and away from their faces. It was so awkward to look at them, all three of the girls looking at him as if he were a bashful middle school kid asking to dance in the gym.

"Are you asking us to tutor you?" One of the blondes asked simply.

He nodded. "Yeah. If it you can't, its cool and all that." Way to sound like an idiot...idiot.

The other blonde put a hand on her cheek, resting her elbow on the table. "Why don't you got the ASC? They have tutors for every subject."

He shrugged. "I don't really have the time to go and sit in a room on the third floor of Bancroft. I'm an athlete, and my schedule is kinda tight, so I need to be able to be a bit more flexible. Plus the ASC is only open till seven most days. I practice at six."

The brown haired girl scoffed. "So go earlier."

"Mandatory study hours at the Arena. I can't sit in the ASC."

"They won't give you study credit if you prove you went to the ASC?"

"Nope." He didn't actually know the answer to that question. Ultimately, he didn't want to go and sit in a room with a bunch of nerds who could do nothing better with their time than study. Plus...if he could get one of these girls to tutor him, the eye candy wouldn't be bad either. He wasn't a chauvinist, but none of these three were hard on the ol' retinas.

"What's in it for us?" The one with brown hair asked in what was obviously a flirty tone.

Hiccup smirked as coyly as he could. "Quid pro quo, huh? Alright...I'll think of something…" He said smoothly. The brown haired beauty giggled at him, but she couldn't follow up before one of her table mates took up the conversation.

"Well, what is your schedule like?" One of the blondes asked. Hiccup smiled widely, glad that he'd broken through. He was about to spill it all when suddenly, Fred was beside him.

His thick hands were on Hiccup's arm like a vice. "Shit dude, we're gonna be late! We are so fucked if we're late for weights!" Without much chance to say goodbye, Hiccup sent a wave towards the three girls at the table.

"Thanks anyway!" He yelled and the two boys sprinted out of the student center.

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I'm going to shoot for between 750-1200 words per chapter for this thing. I should be able to get them out pretty quick, or at least regularly. I have a few front-loaded and ready to go


	2. Fishy Friend

Enjoy!

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Hiccup sat in the small dorm room he shared with Fred, glaring down at his French textbook and wishing that he had never signed up to take this stupid class. It was the most frustrating thing that he could possibly imagine doing. On top of all of it, his own personal sense of academic pride prevented him from going to the ASC because he was good enough to pass all on his own!

Except...maybe he wasn't. This was going to be a tough semester, and damn it all if he wasn't going to rise to the challenge.

The door to the room opened, and Hiccup's nose immediately scrunched at the heavy, oily smell coming from the styrofoam cup in the man's hand. "What in god's name is in that!?" He griped, turning to stare at his roommate as the man passed.

Fred shrugged. "What!? It's nothing crazy, just anchovies and sardines."

Hiccup gagged exuberantly. "I don't think I've ever heard of a more disgusting meal."

Fred sat down on his bed, his fork rising to his mouth. "How dare you say that anything out of the ocean is disgusting! Seafood is the most amazing, natural food out there!"

Hiccup scoffed at his friend, his attention returning with a feeling of woe to his textbook. Now he had French and anchovies in his dorm room, filling his brain. "Lobster is good. Halibut, is good. Fuck, haddock is the best. Anchovies are just...yuck."

Fred laughed at him. "I won't judge you for having a young palette. In time, you will mature. How is French going?"

Hiccup groaned. "Shitty. What am I going to do?"

Fred held up his fork, two little fish stabbed on the tines. He gave them a little shake. "Become a sardine vendor?" He snickered to himself and put the small creatures into his mouth. Hiccup groaned again as the rank smell of the animals reached is nose again. He wasn't even particularly put off by seafood as a whole, but Fred loved _all_ waterborne food items. Even the ones that people did not normally take part in. A small part of him wondered if the kids family was super rich, because he'd seen things that had to cost plenty of beans.

"Did you talk to coach about your shoes yet?" Hiccup asked, deciding that anything would be better than returning to his nightmarish realm of French inadequacy.

Fred hummed. "Yeah. Gave my sizes and all that. What about you? Are you getting jav boots and rotators or just jav boots?"

"Both. Though I don't think my discus career is going to take off any time soon, as much as coach thinks he can turn me into a stud. Only so much weights can do." Hiccup replied. Coach Gobber, code named for Anthony Gob, had somehow come to this idea that under his tutelage, Hiccup would put on forty pounds of muscle and be a champion discus thrower. The boy himself was healthily skeptical.

"Well, maybe if you put on some muscle, you wouldn't have struck out with those French girls. Coulda scored a date with another inch of muscle around those little arms of yours." Hiccup glared over at his roommate.

"I struck out because this amorphous blob of muscle and fish oils tore me away to go to practice." He snipped. He wasn't really bummed out about it; he couldn't see how that situation would have ended any better than it did. Even if he wasn't initially angling for a date, it wouldn't have been something he would rule out.

Fred laughed at him. "Sure did. We barely made it too. Coach would've made us run until the tuna swam home."

"What is it with you and fish?" Hiccup demanded, but Fred ignored him.

Instead, he spent a few minutes griping about something that happened at weights and Hiccup felt a moment of longing to go to the weight room and take out his frustrations on some bodily sculpting, but he couldn't. His weight time was five thirty in the morning, three days a week. They'd been told, quite explicitly, that any extra weight time in the Recreation Center would result in punishment. Awesome, and he knew for a fact that Martin Mildew, the director at the RC, had Coach Rhodes on speed dial. Any athlete would get busted, immediately.

His phone began to buzz on his desk, and Hiccup grabbed it to see his mother's smiling face on the screen. He answered it, getting up and leaving the room to Fred. "Hey mom."

" _Hey there sweetie. How are things going?"_ Hiccup had always considered himself fortunate that his parents, although busy, made sure to keep in touch with him. Only child and all that.

"Not too bad," He said. "Classes are going alright. Track is tough, but I expected that."

" _How is French going? I know you were complaining about it. Have things gotten any better?"_

He rubbed his forehead stressfully. "It's uh...it's going. Hard but...yeah." He didn't want to disappoint his mother. He was one of those kids for whom a B was a bit out of character at school. He wasn't a book obsessed _nerd_ by any extent...but he took pride in his good grades. It wasn't easy saying that he was having a tough time.

" _Oh. Well, don't be afraid to accept help, honey. I know that you're all macho about you-"_

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm not macho…"

" _Yes you are, young man. Just like your dad. Can't accept help no matter what. College isn't like high school Harald. If you need help, go and find it. The school doesn't much care about your grades; if you have to retake courses, it is more money in their pockets."_ There it is. Mom knew how to play Hiccup and his dad like fiddles. Both of the men were quite economically minded. Mainly a result of Hiccup spending so much time at work with his father. It led to a situation where the purchases of large items usually become a running debate between them over sensibility, efficiency and downright thriftiness.

"I'll figure it out, mom. I promise."

He spent a few more minutes on the phone with her, talking about his dad, the condition of his motorcycle and his dog. When they finally got off the phone, Hiccup went back to his room to find that not only was Fred deep in his own homework, the boy had inexplicably acquired yet another snack. "What is that?" He asked.

"Imitation crab meat." Was the answer.

"I cannot believe you are eating that out of the bag."

"It's delicious."

"It smells."

"Like heaven, yeah."

"I'm going to the ASC."

"See you later."

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If you didn't know already, Fred is Fishlegs. I will be sure to make it perfectly clear who characters are supposed to be representing. He might be a little OOC in this fic, but only in his fervor for watery animals of all kinds.


	3. Bonsoir

**A Happy New Year to everyone!**

 **Sorry about the gap in updates. I fully intended to write, but then I forgot my computer at home when I went out of state -_-**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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Two weeks passed, and Hiccup floundered in French. He actually had gone to the Academic Success Center, but the only French tutor wasn't available when he could be there, and although he tried to set up a time with the girl, she wasn't working with it, so he was screwed there. His grades were solid in every class except that, and he was starting to get truly frustrated with it.

So, he'd resorted to going to his professor for help whenever he could. Lucky for him, she was more than willing to make time to sit down and help him out, but it was getting rough there as well. Dr. Chiffon was starting to be more bogged down as the semester went on, and there were times she could only be with him for no more than ten or fifteen minutes. Admittedly, he knew that she was going well out of her way for him. He knew that many professors wouldn't do this much for a single student. Most would simply tell him to find a tutor.

Dr. Chiffon was better, and that is what made it so hard that he was, once again, standing outside of the Academic Success Center. He wanted the help of Dr. Chiffon, but he also liked her enough to not want to put her in a position to say she can't help him. Grunting out an hour or two in the middle of his already busy days was little price to pay for the grateful smile and approval of his professor.

Still, he wasn't thrilled about being here. Not that it mattered anymore. He needed the help and he would do what he needed to in order to pass. With a slight grimace, he entered the room, looking around to see if there was some sort of desk or space that he needed to check in to or anything like that.

When he found no such thing, he went up to the first person he could find with a university badge. "Excuse me?" When the guy looked up, he continued. "Is Ashley here?" She was the one who had been in contact with him, the French tutor here.

The guy shook his head. "Nope. Do you need a French tutor?"

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. That's alright. I'll figure something else out. Thanks," He turned to walk away but was stopped by the guys hand on his shoulder.

"Hang on. Astrid is here tonight. She's a French Major. Maybe she could help you out quick."

HIccup turned back. "Sure. Why not. Where is she?" THe guy pointed to a doorway that led into an adjacent room. "Thanks." Hiccup said with a small wave before carefully picking his way through the room. He silently stepped around backpacks and pushed out chairs, muttering apologies when he had to ask people to move, and went through the doorway.

He glanced around the room, silently hoping that this girl wasn't a mirror image of every high school nerd with glasses that were too big and jeans that didn't hug hips that should be hugged. Maybe he was shallow like that, but whatever. He was an athlete and spent his time around women who were thin, sexy and adored tight clothing. He liked that.

Finally, his eyes settled on a corner table and there he saw the one thing that could have been no better if it was literally a portal to France itself. Sitting at the table, looking quite frustrated at a textbook of unknown content, was one of the girls he'd seen at the dining hall weeks ago. Wow. What luck. She must be the French major that the guy at the front was talking about, or at least that made sense.

He momentarily debated his course of action. He could calmly go over there and politely ask if she was Astrid, the French major or just so happened to be there, or he could go in with an agenda. Maybe score a date? He prepared himself to sound as confident as possible. His dating game wasn't as on point as he often believed it was.

He flopped down in the chair across from her with a goofy smile on his face. "Bonjour, mademoiselle." He said, trying to impress her with his literal maximum extent of French knowledge.

She eyed him with a frustrated expression, but he noted a slight raising of the corners of her mouth. She leaned back, lifting her arms from the book. Hiccup easily caught the section title and noted it was history. "Can I help you with something?" She asked, in extremely clear english. That meant that she was probably American. So...French major.

"I asked the guy at the front if there was a French tutor here, and he told me that I should speak to Astrid. I don't know your name, but I do happen to know that you speak pretty good French. So...is your name Astrid?"

She glared at the opening to the other room. "Fuck...I always tell Dan to not send me...whatever. Look, I am a French major but I'm not a tutor, and I have my own shit to deal with. Sorry…what is your name?"

He leaned forward towards her, putting his forearms on his knees. "Hiccup."

She scrunched her face for a moment and gave him a look that he'd gotten used to over the years whenever he introduced himself that way. The moment passed and she shook her head at it. "Sorry Hi…" She paused for a moment before continuing. "Hiccup. I would like to help, but I have a test soon and I'm totally fucked if I can't get this stupid alliances shit right."

He glanced down at her book and noted the World War I chapter. Good for him, he was an expert at historical stuff. He decided that maybe he could get her to help him with a quid pro quo type deal. "Well how about this," He stopped, and to his approval, she did as well and seemed to be waiting for him to continue. "I'm good with history. I help you, you help me. Deal?" He gave her his best cute boy smile, or what he thought might be a cute boy smile, and waited for her to answer him.

She silently stared at his face, her eyes moving between the two of his in a way that showed she was definitely at least considering his offer. When the silence began to stretch a bit too far, he folded. "I'll uh...I'll leave you alone." He got up to leave, thoughts of failure running through his head.

"Wait."

He turned to look at her curiously. She was super pretty, and super _not_ what he thought she would be, and the look of mild irritation on her face only made her prettier. She seemed to be mulling it over in her head when she finally sighed, closing her eyes and massaging her temples.

"When it's the evening, you say _bonsoir_."

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 **I will do my best to show the development of relationships and dating and just being a human being in college. It's not an exact, certain experience, so I implore you to have an open mind. Reviews always welcome.**


	4. Burritos

**Welcome back to Quid Pro Quo! There is a name in here that has some explanation behind it, and that explanation will be at the bottom of the fic! Enjoy.**

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"Keep your legs pumping!" Coach yelled at them as they ran around the field, a small five-pound medicine ball being tossed over their heads as they ran. This horrible form of athletic torture involved running in a single file line, hands held over their heads while they tossed the medicine ball to each other. When it reached the last person in the line, they sprinted to the front. Rinse and repeat for what felt like years.

Hiccup was a fairly athletic person though, and so the running didn't really challenge him that much. Still though...after a short time, this became quite tough. He ran at the back of the line right that moment and knew that his sprint to the front was coming quickly. When it did come, he ran hard to get to the front of the line quickly, where he could breathe again.

After the horrific workout, Hiccup lay with his teammates on the track, heaving air to fill their lungs. It was something that bound them all together; the collective ability to say 'oh man, do you remember that horrible day when we ran for two hours?' Then they could all go and reminisce about how much they hated it. Point is, they did it together. Blood, sweat, and tears sort of bring people together, apparently.

As a team, they were all close. For the most part. Hiccup and Fred were both freshman and therefore did not know everybody they could or as well as they could, but things were pretty alright. Generally speaking, everyone was chill with each other and there were no active rivalries or anything. Well...as long as you didn't count coach harassing people while they tried to catch their breath.

"Haddock, how is French going?" Gobber said, looming over Hiccup in a way that cast a shadow over him. The tired, sweaty boy leaned up on his elbows.

"Good I guess. I have a tutor now. A good one. French Major."

Fred poked his head up off the surface of the track, an eyebrow cocked. "Is it one of those girls from the student center the other day?" He wheezed.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. She just happened to be at the ASC that day that I went back. I don't think she wanted to tutor me…"

"Who would," Kristoff Bjorgman laughed from where he lay. "You're ugly."

"Fuck you," Hiccup smirked. "She needs help in history and I'm good at that, so we agreed to help each other out."

Nearby, Tamora Calhoun sat up, sweat dripping down her toned abs. The purple sports bra that she wore for practice was nearly completely soaked. "A quid pro quo thing huh? Sure her back isn't all you want to scratch?"

Hiccup flipped her the bird. "I'm not a horndog, Tammy. I need her help to pass French. Besides, why does everyone go straight to that thought? I don't want to fuck her or anything." Maybe a slight mistruth, because he certainly wouldn't say no if it came up, but it wasn't something he was pursuing.

"Chill out, Haddock," Sven Bjorgman, Kristoff's older brother, remarked. "We don't think that. Just fun to give you a hard time." The man was sort of their unofficial captain on the team. He was a senior this year and an NCAA qualifier in the shot put. He was one of two seniors on the team this year on the men's side. His counterpart was a guy from Africa who had come to the states to throw. His name was Mufasa Kiburi, and he was mostly a cool guy but had class when they practiced, so Hiccup didn't see him often.

Hiccup only groused for a minute or two before dropping it. "Anyway. It's gonna get better coach. Don't worry." He reassured the man, who seemed to accept it and went to go harass someone else.

They stretched out and started to get their things together. Hiccup checked his phone and smiled widely. "Yes! Afternoon class got cancelled! Who is coming to Taco Bell with me!?"

Fred shook his head. "Not me. I have a study session to go to for agriculture."

Kristoff and Sven declined as well. "We have anatomy lab this evening. Gotta get prepped."

Hiccup frowned for a second and shrugged. Oh well. He could stand going by himself. He was secure enough as a person that he could go out alone and not feel weirded out by it. Hell, he went to the buffet in town all the time alone.

"I'll go with you Hiccup." He turned to see Tammy walking up to them, still sweaty but now with a t-shirt on. "I love burritos!"

He smiled at her and cocked his head. "C'mon then. Burritos wait for no man! Or woman!"

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 **So the name that needs explanation is Mufasa Kiburi. We all know who Mufasa is (I hope) but if you don't, he is the big daddy lion in the first lion king move. And no, he will NOT be dying a tragic death in this fic. His last name, Kiburi, is the Swahili word for pride. I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Merde

**Welcome to another chapter! I need to get a few things out of the way before we get to the fic.**

 **1\. Although there will be no fully described lemons in this fic, there will be fairly strong adult themes and references. If you are uncomfortable with this, consider this your first warning.**

 **2\. Characters might seem OOC at times. I promise that I do not fully intend for it. I am trying to represent them in a realistic way while also preserving their original character. I will fail at times. I apologize.**

 **3\. If you have any recommendations in terms of characters or story elements, please go ahead and let me know. I have no issue with incorporating some reader ideas into the fic.**

 **Enjoy!**

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" _Merde_ ," Astrid said when Hiccup sat down at the table. "What is that smell?" She covered her nose with an arm, her eyes narrowed. Hiccup rolled his eyes comically, sighing.

"My roommate."

"Your roommate smells like 3-day old fish?" She deadpanned.

Hiccup laughed and shook his head, then tilted his head back and forth in consideration. "Well...yes and no. Anchovies. Probably one of his favorite snacks." He laughed loudly when she visibly shuddered, her mouth opening in a mock gagging motion. Over the past few days, he and Astrid had met three times to go over their respective academic needs. Hiccup helped her with her History studying, and she helped him with French.

Thus far, it had been an alright arrangement. Hiccup had still failed his first test in French, but he was happy to say that he'd actually begun to understand some stuff in a much more fluid fashion. Astrid had gotten a decent score on her history test which, according to her, was a surprise.

The two of them had reached an easy rapport with each other in that time. He was glad that she didn't take herself terribly serious, at least most of the time. She was quick to snap back when he needled her for stuff, but she never got too pissed off about things. Unless of course, he was being lazy, in which case she had no problem telling him he was a fucking screw up. She was certainly academically oriented, grade first, the fun second type of girl.

"What is on the docket for today?" He asked, getting his crap out of his bag and setting it on the table. The two of them switched off who went first. Made things nice and equitable, and that way nobody felt like their needs were being ignored or undervalued.

"Well, I actually don't have any history stuff to work on this evening, so I was thinking we would work on French." She said with a small smile. He groaned audibly, hanging his head down on his chest. He had never abandoned the idea that he hated French. She, to her credit, had been thus far supportive of his journey to pass the class.

"Don't be a baby," She remarked. "What we were doing last time was easy, and today should be easy as well." He acquiesced that what they had done the last session was indeed rather simple and he'd done alright with it. Numbers one through fifty. Lots of memorization though.

Oh well. Getting this stuff over with was probably the best option. "So what are we doing today?" He asked, taking a deep breath and putting on his big boy pants. The library rooms could be booked out by the students so that they had a private place to study in groups. It was a nice arrangement, especially for a situation like he and Astrid had going.

"One of my favorite things in the entire language!" She exclaimed. "Food!" For a solid two hours, Astrid pulled Hiccup through the most hellish version of food he could possibly imagine. When it was over with, he was leaning back in his chair, groaning about the sheer amount of mental overload.

"A marine drill sergeant could take a lesson from you in workload," He muttered, fixing her with an amusing look. She shook her head at him with a sigh.

"You are such a little whiner, you know that?" She remarked. "Food is easy and fun to learn."

Hiccup leaned forward with a sigh of his own, his eyes lingering on the girl in front of him. Even in the relatively mundane backdrop of the library, she was fiery in his eyes. The few times that they had met, she was always fresh out of the shower. Hair wet and braided over her shoulder, smelling faintly of some fruity body wash. Even when she seemed to be in a lazy mode, she was more put together than a lot of girls.

He wouldn't be lying to anyone if he said he wasn't attracted to her. She was beautiful. And she had a _great_ ass, which was always a bonus.

"When do you want to meet up next?" She asked, having put all her things away.

He eyed her up and down quickly once more before humming. "When do you have a test again?"

She didn't look at him. "Three weeks."

"So next time we meet up, we'll do all history stuff."

She looked at him with that statement, her eyebrow having risen. "Why? No French stuff?"

"You helped me for two hours, I help you for two hours. Quid pro quo."

She smirked at him. "Really? So you aren't helping me out for _any_ other reasons?"

He gaped for a moment, trying to decide if she actually just flirted with him, but his phone went off loudly in the quiet room. He rushed to answer it, mainly to get it to shut off than anything else. "What!?" He hissed.

"Dude. Late night practice. Let's go," Fishlegs said matter of factly. "You forget about it?"

Dammit! He had forgotten. "Shit. I have to go. I'll text you later to set up for next time. What's your number?"

She shook her head. "Email me."

He wasn't sure why, but her not giving him her number gave him the weirdest rush.

"Alright. See you later."

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Thirty Minutes

**Welcome back to Quid Pro Quo!**

 **I have no super large announcements to make at this point! Thank you at all reviewers and followers!**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

Hiccup rolled over in his bed, reaching over and shutting off the blaring alarm from his phone and bringing the wretched device to his face. Goddamn, four thirty in the morning and his stupid phone alarm was going off. He groaned inwardly and rolled out of the warm sheets to stand on his cold dorm room floor. Nearby, Fred was grumbling incessantly about something that Hiccup didn't care to comment on.

As he went about getting his clothes on, his phone buzzed and he checked it, a small smile coming to his face at the text.

 _Good morning_.

He hid the phone from Fred, lest the deceivingly sharp and quick-witted man figure something out that he would no doubt spread to everyone else. Hiccup wasn't ashamed particularly of his interpersonal relationships, but he also didn't like people getting in his business.

He shot a text back quickly and resumed getting ready. When his phone buzzed again, he quickly looked at it. Fred had finally realized this and whipped around. "Who could you possibly be texting right now?"

He came over to glance at the phone, but Hiccup hid it away. "None of your business."

Fred glared at him with narrowed eyes. "It's Astrid isn't it!?" He exclaimed. "I knew it!"

Hiccup shrugged at his friend. "So what?"

Fred shrugged. "Nothing I guess. How long has that been going on?"

Hiccup grabbed his shoes and started pulling them onto his feet, a small flare of irritation at the prying. He let it go though. He knew he would probably ask the same questions if their situations were reversed. "A while."

Fred glanced at his own phone. "This early? We're only up because of weights. Your girl is an early bird, huh?"

"Seems like it," Hiccup responded.

"Oh. Well, good for you I guess." Hiccup knew that Fred wanted to ask more. The kid always wanted to know more. He was an athlete, yeah, but he was also a bookie. He couldn't stand not knowing all about something. His grades were top tier for that exact reason. He was probably dying to ask more questions, but he was nice and considerate enough to know that Hiccup didn't want to share.

They ran down the hall to the elevator and took it down to the first floor. On the way, Hiccup exchanged a few more text messages before they made it to Fred's car. He wondered if things were going to be okay. He'd lied only a little bit when he said things had been going on for a while. This thing he had going was relatively new. Scratch that...very new. A part of him was exhilarated. Another part of him was worried that this thing was going to end badly.

Early morning weights brought him no comfort, and coach Maximus was as relentless as ever about them getting through their hellish workout. This phase in the weight room was called hypertrophy, and it was all about building muscle. Which was a pain in the neck. Literally. Squats killed after a while.

When all was said and done, Hiccup found himself in a position he found himself in constantly these days. Flat on his back, sucking air like he'd been under water and his muscles spasming across his body. Oh, and being harassed by his teammates.

"So, Hiccup," Kristoff started. "Freddy here told us that your love life has shaken off the cobwebs and kindling something new with a... _mademoiselle_?" He grinned at his horrible pronunciation of the French word for a young woman. Clearly, it was a reference to Astrid.

Hiccup gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh haha, Kristoff, so original. None of your beeswax."

Nearby Tammy and Esme laughed at him. "Aww, poor little Hiccup has a girlfriend and he's bashful!" Esme, short for Esmeralda, was a tall, lanky girl who was deceptively strong and a great discus and hammer thrower. She, Tammy and the only senior on the women's side Kida were the three girls who lifted in their morning session.

Other girls on the team included Sera Bithelion, Cameron Boggly, and Meredith Dunbroch. They were a smallish group, but as a whole, they were quite good at what they did. In fact, there were more NCAA qualifiers on the girl's side than the boys.

"I'm not bashful!" He quipped at them.

"Guys...you said you wouldn't say anything…" Fred wilted, giving Hiccup a guilty look. Kid was a bit too trusting with other people at times. Not that Hiccup believed that his teammates were honestly doing any of this out of any ill will.

"It's cute!" Tammy exclaimed, making little kissy faces at Hiccup. "Who knows what a little smooching therapy will do for our friend here?" She laughed along with the others and Hiccup shook his head, with his eyes closed.

"Abused. That's what I am. Abused. I am an abused child in need of saving."

He laughed along with his teammates, but in his head, he was thinking of something entirely different. Maybe some smooching therapy was what he really needed right now. It would certainly help with his stress level if that 'smooching' went a teeny tiny bit further. He finished his stretching and got out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen.

 _Thirty minutes. In the shower._

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 **I hope you enjoyed this! Reviews welcome!**


	7. Misunderstanding

**Hey readers! Welcome to Chapter 7! We'll start to identify some conflict with this chapter, and some differences of opinion. I hope you enjoy!**

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Midterm time. Son of a bitch. The worst time of the year, or so he'd been told. At least he had been able to tell himself that things could never be as bad as everyone said. Exam time couldn't possibly be such a shitty, stressful time that it literally drove kids into anxious breakdowns. However, as he sat staring at his French textbook at three in the morning, Hiccup finally conceded.

Exam time was the worst time. There was no mistaking it now. He couldn't bury his head in the sand with this anymore. It _sucked._ Worse yet is he felt like he would never, ever friggen pass his midterm exam. Half was written, where he might not be totally screwed, but the other half was oral, where might be completely fucked. Astrid had done a lot of work with him with French, their meetings happening near daily now. It helped that she was also fun to be around and actually not as uptight as he thought.

Speaking of...he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to her.

 _Are you awake right now?_

The girl had a weird habit of sleep hours, and on top of all that, she was an academic star. No doubt she was also awake and studying for midterms right now. He glanced over at the other side of his dorm room, where Fred snored away. How the kid kept up his grades was a mystery, but he was sitting at a 3.8 or something similar.

His phone buzzed, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he read the message.

 _Yeah. What's up?_

He rolled his eyes.

 _French. I'm going to die. Are you in the library or something?_

He silently started getting his crap together. Of course, she was at the library. She wasn't the type of girl to let sleep get in the way of being the best. Hiccup stepped out of his room and shut the door as quietly as he could. Not that he really thought he might wake Fred or the idea that he actually cared if Fred knew he was going somewhere. He knew that his mom would be mad at him if he wasn't courteous.

His phone went off again. _I am. You going to come by? I have some free time if you want to go over stuff._

He cheered silently. Maybe he had a chance. Just maybe.

 _I'll be by soon. Leaving my dorm now._

It wasn't less than fifteen minutes later that he walked into the library. It was unfortunately on the other side of campus from where the dorms were, and the buildings he would normally cut through to get there were locked at this time of the morning. He scanned the rather empty library and found Astrid sitting at a table, two coffees sitting there steaming. He smiled widely at the thought of some caffeine boosting that the lovely drink would bring.

"Hey," He said as he sat down. "This for me?" He asked, gesturing to the steaming cup of joe.

Astrid nodded, and Hiccup noted that she looked pretty tired. Her eyes were droopy and her hair a bit frazzled. "You've been studying up a storm huh? Look pretty rough."

She glared at him. "Midterms are hard. Finals will be worse. It's normal to be like this. You'll learn." Astrid was a junior this year while he was a freshman. She had more semesters under her belt and so was more prepared for this. "So, what do you need help with?"

For two hours, she drilled him on the oral side of French. It was much more informal, which made it certainly more understandable for him. At the end of that time, he could actually hold a conversation for a good couple of minutes, only slipping up once or twice in pronoun usage and subject-verb agreement.

"Alright," He said with a deep breath. "I think I might be ready for it. I still have two days to study, but we'll see. Thanks."

She nodded and hummed tiredly. "No problem. You helped me a ton with history. It's only fair that I help you back."

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head and then twinings his hand on top of it. "Well, I'd like to think that at this point, maybe it isn't a quid pro quo thing anymore. I like to think that we're friends."

She gave him a pointed look. "Bit of a stretch, no? What have we done besides study together?"

He shrugged. "My thrower friends think we're sleeping together." At the sudden look of apprehension and slight irritation, he paused. "Fred seems to think that because we've been studying, I've also been getting some 'extra help' in other areas too."

Astrid's glare didn't subside. "Your friends sound like idiots."

Hiccup shook his head. "They can be, but they don't mean any harm. They're just athletes and we have athletic activities on our minds all the time." He explained. With a cocked eyebrow, Astrid tsked.

"You've had…'athletic activities' on your mind when we get together to study? What a gentleman." She rolled her eyes and got up, grabbing her bag. "Good luck with French."

He lurched from his seat. "Wait! Not what I meant! Them, not me!" But she was gone, storming off without turning her head. Hiccup sat back down and swore loudly, drawing disgruntled glances from other students who had shown up throughout the early morning hours. He couldn't believe that this had come down this way! Now he'd lost his fucking French tutor! Son of a bitch!

He got up from the seat and walked out glumly. He would have to text her and explain the situation. He wasn't one to leave a misunderstanding...misunderstood.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **On a side note, I want to reiterate that this story is wide open to influence, and extremelty fluid in terms of plot lines. The main points that I will endeavor to make are unaffected by extra content. So please, if you want to see something happen, let me know!**


	8. Sorry

**Welcome to chapter 8!**

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The darkness of the room belied the small sounds emanating from the single bed. Even if there were no pesky roommates or anything else to intrude, their privacy was still paramount to them. Slow movements to avoid the inevitable squeaking of the crappy bed frame. Muffled moans and sighs lost to their binding of lips.

His thrusts were little more than the gentlest pushes forward of his hips. She liked it that way. Soft and sweet. It made their time together that much nicer, that much more as a break from their everyday stresses. Especially during midterm time. The both of them needed this, and they needed it often.

Their breathing increased in intensity as he thrust more sharply, the feeling inside him leading to the lovely peak of ecstasy. Her gasps got more needy and insistent, her hands now grabbing at his lean shoulders. With a hearty breath and a sudden shudder, he was finished. He withdrew and made sure to discard the condom he was wearing. With a whimper, his partner called him back to the bed, and he returned quickly.

His hands when to her breasts and between her legs. With his mouth on hers, he used those hands to work her over her own edge, trying to make sure that they were both satisfied. Her groan of release was lost into his lips, and he slid off of her, lifting a blanket and covering the two of them. She sighed, rocking her head to the side to rest against Hiccup's chest.

"That was great," She mumbled. "Did you enjoy?"

Hiccup laughed softly. "I always enjoy this." He punctuated his statement with a tender brushing of his lips on her shoulder. She shuddered, letting out a sigh of contentment. Hiccup enjoyed these quiet moments, stolen here and there as they could be with hectic schedules and privacy being preserved. He imagined that she enjoyed them as well, but this thing they had going was still young enough that they didn't really talk about much in terms of tender moments. They were all emotions, passion, raw desire and frustration all combined into one.

"Do you have time before you have to leave?" She asked hopefully, the darkness of the room no doubt hiding the insecure look that her face was wearing. He'd grown used to it; this wasn't something she was used to doing, and it showed. He was determined to prove that her risk was worth the reward.

He shook his head, the movement drawing a creak from the old bed frame that was far too loud in the silent dorm room. She felt it and he could have sworn he heard a low, throaty whine. "I have practice, but I can come back after. If...y'know...if you'll be here…"

His words didn't continue as she kissed him. "I want this. I still think its...well, weird, but I do want this." She said lowly. "I'm still...nervous."

He pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. "I'll come back after. I promise."

He got ready slowly, her insistent kisses and touches not helping him much with getting his clothes on. Didn't help that she turned the light on and watched him from the bed, laying there all naked and sexy and sweaty and still sexy and gorgeous. By the time he'd closed the door to the room, it had been nearly forty minutes and one round of oral sex, him being the giver, having taken place.

He knew that things shouldn't be this...secretive, but he couldn't help it. She wanted things to stay private and he would respect that. Besides, if this thing kept on going like it was, he wouldn't need to keep it private anymore than he already was. Keeping up appearances had been easy. It wasn't going to stay that way.

He ran to meet up with Fred in the parking lot so that they could make their way to the track. His roommate had class up until just fifteen minutes before practice and therefore was really in a hurry. It helped when Hiccup was already at the car at waiting.

When they were on the road finally, Fred must have...smelled something. "Hiccup. You are hopefully aware that you smell like sex."

With a burning face, Hiccup sniffed himself. "I do not."

Fred scoffed at him. "Yes, you do."

"So what?" Hiccup snapped. "So I'm getting some action before practice, who cares?"

Fred shrugged. "Nobody I guess. However, allow me to apologize."

Hiccup glanced over at him. "About what?"

Fred yanked a finger over his shoulder. "I saw Astrid sitting with some people on the quad just now. Obviously, I was wrong when I told the guys that you were shacking up with her. Sorry."

* * *

 **So, generally speaking, there will be plenty of things that you may or may not like in this. If you don't like it, I'm sorry.**


	9. Branleur

Sorry this took so long. I ran into some personal problems and work issues that prevented me from really having the inspiration to write.

* * *

Hiccup walked down the red brick boulevard that formed Scholars Walk, the main thoroughfare for the campus. Most of the class buildings were here, as well as the hall that housed all of the professor offices. With his earbuds in and music blaring, he might as well have been dead to the world. Which he didn't mind.

He'd just gotten his score for his French midterm, and it was a surprisingly solid B+. He was ecstatic about it, but getting the score brought up another somber thought. Astrid. He'd not spoken to her since their little misunderstanding at the library, and she refused to answer his texts. He'd been so desperate to try and reach her that he'd penned quite a formal email apologizing and asking to see her.

To which he had received no response. Damn. He thought that she would respond better to that type of communication. A few trips to places that he knew she frequented usually ended with him not finding her, and a single run in with her friend, Belle, had resulted in the same thing. No dice.

He sighed loudly to the air and the birds and the universe. Why he couldn't manage to backpedal hard enough to even get her to talk to him was beyond him but it shouldn't be this hard to apologize. He closed his eyes and put his hands on his head as he kept walking, just enjoying the moment.

A moment that lasted all of four seconds as he felt himself walk into someone. He opened his eyes in a hurry and reached out, grabbing the shoulders of the girl he'd walked into. She was short and had fiery red hair, but she also looked like one of those redheads who had more of a temper than anything else. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking!" She gave him a nasty look as he stepped around her, walking backward with his hands up in apology.

Which is when he intelligently walked into yet another person. This time though, he tripped backward as he did and both he and his unfortunate victim went down to the bricks. "Ow! You fucking idiot!"

While he was processing how embarrassing that must have looked, the voice was one he recognized. "Astrid!?" He said, laying on his back still.

He felt a hand weakly batting his side. "Yes, you fat shit! Get off of me!"

He knew that this was going to be a bit unorthodox, but he had to try. "Will you listen to me if I keep you here for a minute?"

Astrid pushed against him again. " _T'es rien qu'un petit connard!_ " (1) She snapped.

Hiccup smirked, some small part of him wishing he knew enough French to know how what she just said to him. "I'm going to take that as a yes! So listen, about the library the other day…"

Astrid groaned at him. "I don't care about that! Yes, I was mad about it, but I was making you sweat!"

Hiccup considered her words for a whole two seconds before he glowered. "What do you mean 'make me sweat'? I'm an athlete, I sweat plenty enough as it is!"

"Get off me and we'll talk!" She cried. He finally acquiesced to her request and rolled off the poor girl. When he turned and looked he immediately felt a bit bad. She was wearing a really nice light blue dress that was now fairly dirty. He did notice her fierce glare even as he held out a hand to help her. She took it grudgingly and yanked herself up, her hands quickly swatting her dress to get what dirt she could off of it.

He stood silently while she did. He'd already sort of stepped in it by dirtying her clothes with his sort of boneheaded method of getting her to talk. Upon retrospect, she had said that she was making him sweat...and how was he to know that she was doing that? Yeah. He wasn't all to blame here. Maybe a little bit, but not all.

"Why weren't you looking where you were going?" She asked in frustration. He shrugged and pointed around them to the kids milling about.

"I actually stumbled into you after walking into someone else…"

She cast him an unamused glance. "Not very graceful of you." She huffed and continued walking down the brick boulevard.

He ran after her. "Hey! I thought we were gonna talk!" He asked, catching up quickly and walking next to her. She rolled her eyes at him and pursed her lips. She was not happy, he could tell that much.

"Not out here. I need to sit down and get some food. So just shut up and come on."

He chose to take this time to swallow his pride and just listen to her. He followed the girl into the student center and downstairs to where the food was. When she plopped all of her things down on a table and cast him a pointed look, he silently sank down into the seat, hearing the message that he was to watch the stuff while she went and got food. A part of him wanted to go and get food himself because that was his initial goal today, but another part of him wanted to make sure that he didn't mess things up. As much as he needed her for a tutor, he actually sort of liked Astrid and he attitude. Her take no shit stance on education and personal relationships.

When she came back, he waited until she'd settled into her salad to actually say something. "So...I'm sorry."

She sighed as she crunched through a crouton. "It's alright, Hiccup," She said. "I thought about it all after I left the library and realized that maybe I'd been a bit overdramatic. I shouldn't have assumed that you meant that you were always thinking about sex."

Hiccup smiled widely at her. "So...what you're saying is the apology _should_ be coming…"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't push your luck, _branleur_ ," (2)

Hiccup laughed at her, still unaware of what the French word meant. He would probably learn what it meant, especially considering that he now had his French tutor back!

* * *

1\. You really are an asshole!

2\. jerk


End file.
